'Being Human' U.S. series premiere: Snap judgment

A vampire, a ghost, and a werewolf share a flat in Bristol, England: It sounds like a pitch for a sitcom or a Saturday-morning cartoon. But Being Human, the British series that aired its first episode on BBC America last night, is neither of those. The premiere’s tone swung instead between Gothic melodrama and campy absurdity – often recalling HBO’s similarly bipolar True Blood – as the supernatural roomies grappled with themselves and one another. Mitchell (Aidan Turner), a principled vamp firmly in the Bill Compton/Edward Cullen tradition, works diligently to protect the world from his nastier kin; the rather deceased Annie (Lenora Crichlow) pines for her still-living fiance; and lycanthropic George (Russell Tovey) is a neurotic mess whether or not the full moon is out. What could possibly go wrong with any of those situations?

It was all a bit silly, especially when the show tried to grope its way toward a serious statement on the nature of humanity. For the most part, though, Being Human felt like good summer fun, with plenty of TV-MA-worthy sex and violence to go around. Anyone else catch the premiere last night? Will you be tuning in again next Saturday? Who’s your favorite of the show’s freaks?